Michael Waltrip says his team is 'not immoral (and) not irresponsible' after NASCAR levied record-setting fines against his three cars. / Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

Under the dark cloud of a record-setting NASCAR penalty, Michael Waltrip defended his organization and now-suspended general manager Ty Norris on Tuesday, saying he would have done the same thing Norris did if faced with a similar situation.

In an interview with Fox Sports 1's Race Hub, Waltrip said the Michael Waltrip Racing team was "not immoral (and) not irresponsible" despite what NASCAR said was a manipulation of Saturday night's Richmond race.

MWR was penalized $300,000 and driver Martin Truex Jr. was removed from the Chase for the Sprint Cup on Monday night after NASCAR said the team's late-race actions went against the spirit of competition.

Norris, who got the blame for orchestrating the sequence of events, was suspended indefinitely.

But Waltrip insisted the team didn't have a plan to get Truex into the Chase by having driver Brian Vickers make an unnecessary pit stop to give up a point.

Rather, it was a split-second decision made by Norris.

"What the penalties were for was 55 coming down pit road to give up a spot and enable the 56 to make the Chase" Waltrip said. "It's impossible to defend, because we did it. But I mean, the caution was out, Ty was looking at the numbers and was like, 'Pit, pit! We need that position.' And so we pitted.

"If I had been standing beside Ty at that moment, I don't know that I would have done anything differently. I'm afraid I wouldn't have, because we've seen people give up positions all the time in this sport to give a teammate a point. It happens. We've seen the leader pull over so another guy can lead, so I would have screwed that one up, too."

Waltrip said he did not believe driver Clint Bowyer's spin -- deemed suspicious by many given the circumstances and radio chatter that led up to the incident -- was intentional.

"You saw the video, you heard the audio," Waltrip said. "I stand behind my driver. NASCAR looked at the situation and they didn't think he spun on purpose, so I have no reason to believe that's the case."

The team owner and two-time Daytona 500 winner said he was being "100%" truthful about having no knowledge of Norris' plan.

"There was no master plan and I was not a part of any conversations about the spin, about the 55 pitting," Waltrip said. "Ty made a call I would have been as guilty of making.

"That's why it's so hurtful when people you respect and you know in the industry are so mean. People that know me know I take stuff personally. I act like I'm always in a good mood when I'm not, but it's my job. It's been hard.

"I just hate people questioning who I am, because I know who I am and my daughters know who I am and they still love me, so we'll get through it."